Some people have no problem believing false flattery. They’re completely unaware of the fact that they’re making fools of themselves. They’re “fatuous.” They see themselves as absolute perfection, completely oblivious to their flaws. Not only that, fatuous people tend to act as their own sycophants, bragging and talking themselves up, while putting other people down.

Example: “Unaware that half of the dinner guests were professional winemakers, Uncle George had a fatuous smile on his face as he criticized the choice of champagne served with dessert.”

A “sycophant” is someone who hangs around powerful people, using flattery to advance themselves

Example:  “A good leader relies on people who question her decisions, not on sycophants who praise every word she says.”

Something that is difficult to understand, perhaps even so much that you feel you can’t begin to try, is “abstruse.”

Example: “I picked up a book on recent discoveries in physics, but it was so abstruse that even my university classes in higher mathematics were no help in understanding the text.”

“Quandary,” meaning uncertainty, or difficulty in knowing what to do.

Example: “Two of his friends asked him for a recommendation to the same job, and he’s in a quandary because he can’t sponsor one of them without alienating the other.”

“Pedestrian” –  When you’re walking down the street, you’re a pedestrian – that’s a noun. But unless you’re doing a very silly walk, you’re also being pedestrian – an adjective. The adjective “pedestrian” means “unremarkable” or “ordinary.”

Example: “The lives of the people around him seemed so pedestrian that the would-be author couldn’t use them for inspiration when writing his first novel.”

“Brook” – We’re not talking about the noun referring to a small stream, but rather a verb that means to tolerate or put up with, specifically with something negative.

Example: “I have been teaching school for over thirty years, and I will brook no interference in my classroom from parents who disagree with the grades I give the students.”

It’s a word you hear frequently in sports, when you’re talking about a winner, someone who’s made it to the top. The meaning we’re going to learn is actually very similar. As a verb, “to champion” means to promote, to “talk up,” or to advertise positively. You can champion a person or a cause, trying to get people to support them.

Example: “After the terrible earthquake that nearly destroyed the city, local officials and celebrities championed the movement to replace the wooden buildings with reinforced concrete.”

“Verbatim” means word for word, exactly as it was said.

Example: “The court reporter read back the lawyer’s words verbatim, and the judge realized that his arguments were based on false evidence.”

Something that seems believable and reasonable at first glance, but is easily proven false when examined closely, is said to be “specious”. This term is often used to describe argument, or reasoning.

Example: “The lawyer tried to prove that the woman was guilty by quoting her previous statements about the incident, but as she hadn’t said anything incriminating, this was a specious argument.”

A “chimera” is a creation of the imagination, a foolish fancy, or an imaginary thing.

Example: “Early European travellers to Africa brought back descriptions of giraffes and elephants that were dismissed as chimeras by people who didn’t believe such things could exist.”